1killed, 14 kidnapped as pirates attack foreign vessels
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One foreign sailor had been reportedly killed while 14 others were taken hostage when suspected pirates attacked two cargo vessels off Bonny coast in southern Nigerian Rivers state late Friday, a Nigerian navy official confirmed on Saturday.
A senior official with the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Umar Ahmed confirmed the incident to Xinhua saying members of the crew were mainly Eastern Europeans.
It was learnt that a cargo vessel with inscribed BBC Palonia and another were raided during the attack at about 6 p.m..
The Navy chief said it had deployed its men from Bonny to investigate the incident towards securing the release of the hostages. Spokesperson of the Police in Rivers State Rita Inoma-Abbey (SP) told Xinhua on phone that the command had been informed by the Commandant of the Navy Pathfinder and assured them that they were investigating the matter.
"Commander Navy Pathfinder informed (Police) Command that on 2010 July 2 that pirates attacked Cargo Vessel BBC Palonia and one other at about 6 p.m., from South of Bonny FWB," she said.
"The crew is eastern European. One confirmed shot dead, others taken hostage. Nigerian Navy already deployed from Bonny to investigate," the police spokesperson added.
When reach for further information on the development on Saturday, spokesman of the Navy Lt. Edward Yeibo, said the commander of the NNS and that of the Joint Task Force (JTF) were already in a meeting on the development.
He confirmed that the armed forces had deployed troops to the area to bring the situation under control speedily, adding that picture of the situation would become clearer by the time the top hierarchy of the Joint Task Force and Navy come out of their meeting.
